That's a reference to the 1988 presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. I didn't read this whole article at Wikipedia, but it may contain some illumination for you, particularly this portion: "'Dukakis in the tank' remains shorthand for backfired public relations outings."

Kind of like "Mission Accomplished," but that wasn't part of a campaign.

"Women are weapons-grade haters.... When women get their hate on, they don't just dislike, or find disfavor with, or sort of not really appreciate. They loathe — deeply, richly, sustainingly. I do not say this to disparage my gender; women also love in more or less the same way...."